In April I shared with you a series of books I was reading and going to read over the lockdown period. Ten weeks in and things aren’t back to normal. I doubt they ever will be. But for the time being, it means I’m getting a fair bit more read. This month’s reads May was taken up with finishing The Book of Dust Volume 1 by Phillip Pullman. It took longer than I expected, as did the Hunger Games trilogy. So I’ve only really started on this pile of reads in the last week. So I guess these will get me through June and July. Non-fiction first I try to…

So years ago I read the first Hunger Games book. The hype was huge and everyone was talking about it. The film was about to come out and I had high expectations… They weren’t realised. While I liked the book, I didn’t love it. So much so that I felt no inclination to continue the series straight away. The more time that went the less I felt the need to read them. I just wasn’t interested and although everyone was shocked at the fact that someone who considered themselves a book blogger, once upon a time, hadn’t read the books – I couldn’t bring myself to pick them up. When…

Obviously, I am an avid reader. Being born and bred in the North East of England I like to celebrate when authors from the UK do well and I always advocate the reading of UKYA. Today for #UKYADay (hosted by the lovely Lucy at Queen of Contemporary) I wanted to share a bit about my thoughts on UKYA. I consider myself to be very lucky in that when I was 15 and wanted to buy a book, I had some there, sat on the shelves of my local Waterstones (which was actually Ottakars back then if anyone remembers that!) which were targeted directly at my age range. My sister, who…

Letterbox Love is a weekly feature that is hosted by Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and is a way for us to share the books that come through our letterbox, galleys and e-books (through our electronic letterbox) and any other bookish goodies that we want to tell you about. This week I didn’t actually have any books that arrived through my letterbox. Instead I had picked up a few at the Walker Books Blogger Brunch that they kindly put on for us. The books were given in goodie bags which each contained a Make your Own Gingerbread House Kit, a candy cane, some chocolate santas and some bookmarks. In addition I received the…

“Brendan Walker knew the house was going to be terrible. The first tip-off was the super-cheerful tone the estate agent, Diane Dobson, used with his mother. ‘It’s truly the most amazing house, Mrs Walker,’ Diane chirped on speaker. ‘The perfect place for a sophisticated family like yours. And its just gone through a major price reduction’ ‘Where is this house?’ Brendan asked. Aged twelve, he sat next to his sister, Cordelia, playing Uncharted on his much-loved PSP.” When the Walker family walked into 128 Sea Cliff Avenue they knew it was impressive, an unobstructed view of the Golden Gate Bridge, a price tag they could afford and all of the…

Most writers are inspired by other writings, world events, and in most cases their own personal experiences. Roald Dahl Day is September 13th, so to celebrate the mischief and mayhem in so much of Dahl’s writing, here is a list of some of his work most heavily influenced by his life experiences. Matilda When Roald Dahl was just eight years old he and four of his friends participated in what they named “The Great Mouse Plot of 1924.” All five boys were caned by the headmaster after they placed a dead mouse in a jar of gobstoppers at the local sweet shop. The shop was owned by a “mean and loathsome”…

Many people believe that the most powerful way to grab a reader’s attention is with a pretty cover and a captivating synopsis, and while this may be true, I also believe that a significant and compelling first sentence is also incredibly important. When deciding which book to pick up and read from the library or buy from the bookstore, I usually open the book and read the first sentence. That sentence may be able to tell me if this is a book I will enjoy. A powerful first sentence will capture my attention and force my hand, whereas a sloppy sentence will show that this will not be a book I will enjoy. It can show…